Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade

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This article includes Tony Gormley, IRA member. For the artist, see Antony Gormley.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army's East Tyrone Brigade was one of the most active Republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland over the course of the Troubles. They are believed to have drawn their membership from right across the eastern side of County Tyrone as well as north County Monaghan and south County Londonderry.^[1]

The east of the county has a long history of militant Republicanism from Tom Clarke, J.J. McGarrity, Liam Kelly, Gerry McGeough, Bernadette Devlin and Martin Hurson. One of the most widely publicised failures in the Brigade's campaign was at Loughgall where a group of eight men were ambushed and killed by the British special forces, the SAS, during an attack on the RUC station on 8 May 1987.

Contents 1 Lynagh's Strategy 2 Previous attacks 3 The Loughgall ambush 3.1 Aftermath of the ambush 3.2 Membership of the Loughgall Unit 3.2.1 Patrick Kelly 3.2.2 Eugene Kelly 3.2.3 Declan Arthurs 3.2.4 Gerry O'Callaghan 3.2.5 Séamus Donnelly 3.2.6 Tony Gormley 3.3 Song 4 Subsequent Brigade activity 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External links

[edit] Lynagh's Strategy

In the 1980s, the PIRA in East Tyrone and other areas close to the border, such as South Armagh, were following a Maoist military theory devised for Ireland by Jim Lynagh, the leader of the IRA in East Tyrone (but a native of County Monaghan). The theory involved creating "zones of liberation" that the Security forces of Northern Ireland did not control and gradually expanding them to make the country ungovernable. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a Republican stronghold such as East Tyrone. The South Armagh area was considered to be a liberated zone already, since British troops and the RUC could not use the roads there for fear of roadside bombs. Thus it was from there that the PIRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in East Tyrone in areas close to South Armagh, which offered good escape routes. The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British Security Forces from East Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then killing any building contracters who were employed to rebuild them.

[edit] Previous attacks

The East Tyrone Brigade carried out two successful attacks on RUC bases in East Tyrone. Both attacks were begun by driving a JCB digger with a 200 lb (91 kg) bomb in its bucket through the reinforced fences the RUC had in place around their bases, and then exploding the bomb and raking the police station with gunfire. On these two occasions the stations were destroyed, and most or all of the occupants killed. It was therefore with some confidence that the PIRA tried the same tactics on the Loughall RUC station on 8 May 1987.

[edit] The Loughgall ambush

The SAS, however, had set a trap to destroy the unit. They had placed an SAS soldier inside the station, and deployed a squad of 24 soldiers split into six groups around the station building. It has been alleged, but never proved, that the RUC had an informer in the IRA group, and that he was killed by the SAS in the ambush.^[2] However, in his book Big Boys' Rules Mark Urban points to the fact that a Loughgall woman Colette O'Neill was abducted by the IRA several weeks later, and he hypothesises that she may have been the informer.^[3]

Just after 7pm, Declan Arthurs drove the JCB carrying the bomb through the perimeter fence of the RUC station. The van carrying the rest of the PIRA unit pulled up and they jumped out and opened fire on the station, intending to provide cover for Arthurs until he could get clear.^{[citation needed]} The IRA just managed to detonate its 200lb bomb before the SAS opened fire, heavily damaging the police station.

The SAS riddled the JCB and the van with bullets. In addition, the car of passer-by Anthony Hughes was fired on by the SAS. Hughes, 36, was killed and his brother badly wounded.^[4] Subsequent security forces statements said with regret that they had been innocent passers-by caught in crossfire. All eight PIRA men were killed, all from head wounds.^[5] The soldiers fired more than 600 rounds; the PIRA men fired 70 rounds but did not hit any of the soldiers.^[6] It was later alleged that one of the dead men was in fact an informant for the RUC, although this was denied by security sources, who claimed that the information on the PIRA unit was gained from electronic surveillance.^[7]

The British recovered eight IRA weapons from the scene - three Heckler & Koch rifles, one FN rifle, two FNC rifles, a Ruger revolver and a Spas-12 shotgun. The Royal Ulster Constabulary linked the guns to 7 murders and 12 attempted murders in the mid Ulster area.^[8] One of the guns had been taken from a reserve RUC constable murdered in an attack on police two years earlier.^[9]

The innocent civilian, Anthony Hughes, who was shot dead by the SAS had been travelling in a car with his brother, Oliver, unaware of the ambush. Unfortunately, both brothers were wearing overalls and were mistaken for IRA men engaged in the attack.^[10] As they attempted to reverse out of the gunfire, SAS troopers positioned nearby mistook them as part of the IRA unit and opened fire. Forty shots were aimed at the car, killing Anthony and wounding his brother. Hughes' widow later received compensation from the British Government for the death of her husband.^[11]

[edit] Aftermath of the ambush

SAS operations against the PIRA continued well into the 1990s. The PIRA conducted a long investigation in search of the informer believed to have been in their ranks, although some would say it was a waste of time since that informer had allegedly been killed in the ambush.

The PIRA group became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among Republicans, who alleged that their deaths were part of a deliberate shoot-to-kill policy by the security forces.

Thousands of people attended the funerals of the dead IRA men, the biggest republican funerals in Northern Ireland since those of the IRA hunger strikers of 1981.^{[citation needed]} Gerry Adams in his graveside oration said the British Government understood that it could buy off the government of the Republic of Ireland, which he described as the "shoneen clan" (pro-British), but "it does not understand the Jim Lynaghs, the Pádraig McKearneys or the Séamus McElwaines. It thinks it can defeat them. It never will".^[12]

In 2001 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the eight IRA men (among others) had had their human rights violated by the failure of the British government to conduct a proper investigation into the circumstances of their deaths.^[5]

[edit] Membership of the Loughgall Unit

The East Tyrone Brigade members killed at Loughgall in 1987 consisted of:

• Commander Patrick Kelly (aged 30)
• Jim Lynagh (aged 31)
• Pádraig McKearney (aged 32)
• Declan Arthurs (aged 21)
• Seamus Donnelly (aged 19)
• Eugene Kelly (aged 25)
• Gerry O'Callaghan (aged 29)
• Tony Gormley (aged 25)

Patrick Kelly

Lynagh

McKearney

Arthurs

Donnelly

Eugene Kelly

O'Callaghan

Gormley

[edit] Patrick Kelly

Patrick Joseph Kelly (Irish: Pádraic Ó Ceallaigh; born 19 March 1957) born Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was the head of the Tyrone Brigade and the Commander of the East Tyrone Brigade during the mid 1980s.^[13][14]

The oldest child in a family of five, Kelly was born in the largely protestant town of Carrickfergus, however he was raised and lived in Dungannon, a rural market town in County Tyrone in a family with a long tradition of Irish republicanism.

Kelly became a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army at the beginning of the 1970s and gradually became one of the most experienced members (volunteers) in Tyrone.

He was arrested in February 1982 on the word of a supergrass called Patrick McGurk but was released in October 1983 due to lack of evidence after a trial that lasted fifteen minutes.^[15]

In 1985, Kelly was appointed brigade commander in East Tyrone and began developing tactics for attacking secluded Royal Ulster Constabulary bases in his area. Under his leadership the East Tyrone Brigade became the most active IRA unit in Northern Ireland.^[16][17][18]

In 1986, Kelly attended the IRA Army Convention. At the convention the main topic of discussion was the principal of absentionism. Gerry Adams and others argued the the absentionist rule should be dropped and the Provisional movement should become involved in constitutional politics. Kelly voted against dropping the rule and a rift with the majority of the army council ensued.^[17][19]

Kelly was buried in Edendork cemetery, two miles from his home in Dungannon.

[edit] Eugene Kelly

Eugene Kelly (Irish Eugene Ó Ceallaigh; born 5 July 1962), was from Cappagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.^[13][20]

Kelly was from a family of two brothers and four sisters and grew in the rural village of Cappagh, County Tyrone. He became a highly active member of the PIRA after first joining the paramilitary group in 1982.

Kelly became regularly active within the East Tyrone Brigade of the IRA and was ultilised for his detailed geographical knowledge of rural areas of County Tyrone and County Armagh.

At the request of his family he was buried in a private ceremony at Altmore Cemetery, Cappagh in order to avoid much of the press attention which had followed the family after his death.^[18][21][22]

[edit] Declan Arthurs

Declan Arthurs (Irish: Deaglan Mac Airt; born 28 October 1965) was from Galbally near Cappagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.^[23]

Declan Arthurs was the fourth of six childern born to Patrick and Amelia Arthurs in Galbally, a rural village in County Tyrone.

Arthurs was mechanically minded and once he left school he joined his father and worked as an agricultural contractor. Arthurs became radicalised in the early 1980s after attending torchlight vigils for the 1981 hunger strikers and after attending the funeral of Martin Hurson, who died during the hunger strike and was also from the Galbally area.^[13]

During Christmas of 1986, Arthurs was interned in Gough Barracks for seven days without charge and once released was again detained two days later for a further seven days. In January 1987, Arthurs spent all but seven days in Gough Barracks again without any charges for an offence being brought.^[24]

In May 1987, both Arthurs and fellow volunteer, Séamus Donnelly, were buried at St.John's, Galbally.

[edit] Gerry O'Callaghan

Gerard O'Callaghan (born 8 January 1959), was from Benburb, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

O'Callaghan joined the IRA in the 1970s and was arrested along with fellow IRA volunteer Padraig McKearney in 1980.

O'Callaghan was sentenced for possession of weapons and IRA membership in 1981. During his time in prison he was part of the blanket protest. Upon his release O'Callaghan returned to active service with the Provisional Irish Republican Army.^[13][25]

[edit] Séamus Donnelly

Séamus Donnelly (Irish: Séamas Ó Donnghaile), born 11 January 1968, was from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Donnelly was the fourth eldest child in a family of eight and was born and raised in the small village of Aughnaskea, Gallbally, a rural area of east County Tyrone. Here he grew up with fellow members of the East Tyrone Brigade Declan Arthurs and Tony Gormley.

At 19 years old he was the youngest of eight IRA members and a civilian to be killed at Loughgall.^[5][13][26]

Arthurs, Donnelly, Gormley and Kelly were all from the village of Cappagh, and had joined the PIRA after the death of Martin Hurson, another Cappagh man, on hunger strike in Long Kesh in 1981.

[edit] Tony Gormley

Anthony "Tony" Gormley (Irish Antoine Ó Goirmleadhaigh), born 17 September 1962, was from Galbally, County Tyrone, and joined the PIRA in 1981.

Gormley was the second oldest in a family of six childern and grew up with Declan Arthurs and Seamus Donnelly.^[13] Gormley owned a successful engineering sub-contracting company and had twelve employees and was a strategist within the East Tyrone Brigade.

[edit] Song

An Irish rebel song was written as a tribute to the IRA members, entitled "Loughall Martyrs". It's lyrics state that the Provisionals were "brave volunteers", and that Lynagh was a "gallant soldier". The SAS are described as "butchers", and are accused of using disproportionate force, as well as not offering the opportunity to surrender. The final verse pays tribute to the eight men by name.

[edit] Subsequent Brigade activity

The SAS ambush had no noticeable effect on the level of terrorist activity in East Tyrone. In the two years prior to the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed 7 people in East Tyrone and North Armagh, and 11 in the two years following the ambush.^[27] Ed Moloney, Irish journalist and author of the Secret History of the IRA, states that the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles - the highest of any Brigade area. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992.^[28]

In August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty UDR man.^[29] On 11 February 1990 the Brigade managed to shot down a Lynx helicopter near Clogher by machine gun fire.^[30] In October 1990, two more IRA men, Dessie Grew and Martin McCaughey were shot dead near Loughgall by undercover soldiers. In June 1991, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Peter Ryan and Tony Dorris died in another SAS ambush at Coagh, where their car was raked with gunfire.^[31] The police stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen.^[32]

In January 1992, IRA East Tyrone Brigade members killed eight building workers and severely injured another six, with a landmine at Teebane near Omagh. One of the workers killed, Robert Dunseath, was also a member of the Royal Irish Rangers.^[33] The men were working to re-build British Army bases damaged by IRA bombs. The men were all Protestants and this was widely perceived as a sectarian attack.^[34]

Another four IRA members were killed in February 1992. The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at Clonoe after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland. Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by British special forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to the inexperience of the IRA men in question. They had mounted a heavy DShK machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer ammunition at the fortified base. They then drove past the house of Tony Dorris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Dorris". This gave ample time for the British Army to respond. The IRA men were intercepted by the British Army as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church. Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. One witness has said that some of the men were wounded and tried to surrender but were then killed by British soldiers.^[35]

In addition, the IRA in Tyrone was the victim of an assassination campaign carried out by the loyalist paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The UVF killed 40 people in east Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. Of these, most were Catholic civilians with no paramilitary connections,^{[citation needed]} but six of their victims were IRA members. Three of them were killed in a pub in Cappagh in March 1991. The IRA responded by killing senior UVF man Leslie Dallas.^[36]

An IRA bomb attack against British Paratroopers, also near Cappagh, during which a soldier lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between troops and local residents in mid-May 1992. The riots lasted for several days, ending up with the paratroopers assault on three bars, where they injured seven civilians. Another street fracas between a King's Own Scottish Borderers platoon and Republican sympathizers in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army machine gun, later recovered nearby.^[37] Six Paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but were later acquitted.

During the period 1993-1994, the Brigade executed a total of eight mortar attacks against British security facilities and was also responsible for at least sixteen bombings and shootings. They killed four members of the security forces in the same period.^[38]

[edit] See also

• Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Brendan O'Brien, The Long War-the IRA and Sinn Féin, O'Brien Press (1999), ISBN 0-86278-606-1.
• Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, W.W. Norton and Company (2002), ISBN 0-14-101041-X.
• Mark Urban, Big Boys' Rules, Faber and Faber (1992), ISBN 0-571-16112-X

[edit] External links

• Folk song about the "Loughgall Martyrs"
• BBC News: IRA deaths: The four shootings
• Daily Mail article